<p>It’s incredible that people would side against this professor. The situation is clear. Students who don’t care to be there disrupt the class. You can just barely hear the yawn on the audio I believe. This is obviously not a one-time thing, as he remarked. Idiots who do this stuff to be funny and to get attention should be yelled at like this. He wasn’t yelling at the entire class (he physically was yelling at the class, but not at every single individual), he was yelling at the people who disturb others’ learning.</p>
<p>He had full right to yell the way he did. Honestly, that really was nothing. I completely and totally accept this behaviour because otherwise these morons will continue their foolery at the expense of the rest who care about their education.</p>
<p>There are kids like that guy in my classes. Screw them, they deserve to get yelled at.</p>
<p>I have a grad student who works in my office. I watched the video above during lunch break. He is way down the hall, but the doors were open. I didn’t have the volume on my computer up all that high, but the yelling of the Cornell prof escalated in intensity and volume, to the point that my student came in here to see what was going on. He watched the remaining part of the clip and was appalled. The way to get students attention is to talk “low and slow”. Yelling at them and demanding the rat out the offender, not a good strategy. JMO All the prof had to say was “if whoever made that yawn is not finding this class interesting, or perhaps was up late studying last night, he/she is welcome to go back to their dorm and rest up”. Enough said. then move on.</p>
<p>Check out the reaction of the students sitting in the front rows before the professor started to respond. They were also shocked by it. I think the offending student was making a point and prof wasn’t about to take it. I’m with the prof.</p>
<p>While I think he could’ve gone about it better, I do think the professor was in the right to stop class and bring it to attention, especially if it’s something that has been repeatedly going on. A loud, sarcastic yawn is tremendously disrespectful. Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I believe in showing up to lecture on time, not dressed in pj’s and flip flops, and not sleeping in class. Whether the professor is good or not, if you are going to show up to lecture, you should show respect for the professor. Otherwise, the professor in the video’s right: don’t come to class. In a class of 200, I doubt anyone was forcing the student to come to lecture.</p>
Ok, first of all, prior to yesterday he only had 10 ratings on RMP going back 7 years. Out of hundreds of students, so they are pretty much meaningless. RMP is not a good site by which to gage professor quality, as the postings are more often from disgruntled students, and do not represent a cross section. </p>
<p>That said, I have taught college courses, and would NEVER single out one student for doing something that minor. I have made the following announcement in several courses when there were problems with people talking: “ok, here’s the deal - only one of us can talk and be understood by the class at a time. So either I lecture, or you have the stage and you chat with each other. Either way, you are responsible for the material. I don’t really care, since I already know the material. So if you all would rather chat, I can just hang out up here, no problem.” That usually gets the problem under control.</p>
<p>As for people yawning or sleeping in class, I don’t know why that would be anyone’s peeve as long as it isn’t disruptive. I have slept in class many times (as a student!) and later learned that I have a sleep disorder which actually causes severe drowsiness as well as sometimes near continuous yawning. Knowing this, I have told my students I don’t care if they sleep, just to try not to fall off their chairs :).</p>
<p>That little talk didn’t even make a blip on my rantometer! One of my kids had a prof in recent years who spend nearly an entire lecture screaming because someone used the front entrance of the lecture hall after class had begun. He had given warning on the first day that this was an inexcusable offense and apparently he meant it! It made quite an impression on all of the students…mine was convinced the guy was about to have a heart attack and had the first two digits on his phone pre-dialed. I’m sure the poor hapless kid who wandered in at 7:40 AM will never forget it either!</p>
<p>Wow! What the heck is going on in colleges and universities?? Are students really that much more impolite? Are faculty that much more out of control? Never ever do I recall any professor ever raising their voice in class.</p>
<p>It’s a hard one, but given his rating on Rate My Professor I get the feeling his classes must be especially painful. IMO there is no excuse for what the student did, BUT, the prof mishandled it in the extreme and I think his reputation on campus just went from bad to worse.</p>
<p>He was every bit as immature as the yawner. Asking students to rat out a peer? Telling them they’d all have to stay there? Lucky some sense seemed to kick in, but the temper displayed was unprofessional and inappropriate.</p>
<p>I think he killed his chance for tenure and he’ll soon move on.</p>
<p>The problem for me wasn’t the fact that he addressed the issue but the tone he used when he did it. If I had been sitting in the front row I would have been frightened, his anger was in control and he lost his composure. I don’t come to class to listen to my professors scream at people.</p>
<p>People consider that a rant and losing control? Wow, come visit the real world. I had professors lose their temper worse than that. I’ve seen bosses literally screaming at people. This was nothing. In fact good for him if someone was purposely disrupting the class.</p>
<p>@iron maiden: maybe i have just been spoiled with the teachers i’ve had then…because none of them has had an outburst worse than that guy’s… and i don’t go to some top notch high school either. </p>
<p>I’m a student, and I believe what the instructor did was unprofessional. We all come across people who will disrespect us, but it’s up to us to temper our anger, especially if we’re in a professional setting like school or the workplace. The student did not yell at him-- he/she merely yawned. I agree it’s a little disrespectful (if it was intentionally loud but not otherwise) but the instructor’s response was even worse. I’m guessing he has anger management issues, but if so, he needs to take care of it since he’s a professional. I’m also puzzled as to why the Cornell gang (monydad, Marian) felt the need to come to Mr. Talbert’s defense unequivocally. Nobody is saying what he did reflects on Cornell professors as a whole, most of whom I’m sure are wonderful–we’re only discussing this particular instructor. I have high hopes for Cornell’s hotel students though and am confident they won’t emulate this kind of immaturity as they enter various customer service professions where composure and tact are extremely important.</p>
<p>I was in a college class with about 30 students. Two students in the back row of the class were talking to each other and everyone could hear them clearly. The professor stopped lecturing and stared at the two chatty students. The rest of the class turned around too and stared at them. They were oblivious for a couple of minutes. When they finally looked around, there were 30 pairs of eyes staring at them. The professor said “May I continue?” and everyone (except the chatters) broke out laughing. The two students were silent for the rest of the class.</p>
<p>Hi everyone!
I was a student in the actual class when this happened. I was even sitting in the section he was yelling at.
First off, I did NOT hear the yawn. Perhaps I was also a little exhausted, but this class is taught on a Friday. Of course the lectures are boring - he’s talking about bits and bytes to people who aren’t really interested in learning about bits and bytes. All I know is I was quite scared sitting there because I had no idea what was going on or what actually happened until I went back and watched the video/remix again.<br>
I feel bad for Talbert because I agree - this has gotten a little crazy. Sure it was funny and we enjoyed the remix, but it has now made the news and is a little extreme.
Talbert is a nice guy with a few quirks…I don’t think the entire world should judge him based on one mistake that went viral.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine’s father was a professor at Cornell’s graduate school (economics). One year, they were short of a professor for UG, they asked him to teach one high level econ course. On the first day, he walked into a class and just started to write and lecture. The class was silent and most people had a blank look on their face. He asked them what class they were suppose to be at (not that he was in a wrong class). Someone said it was a humanities course 100 something. My friend’s father said, “No wonder, you guys look too stupid to be in my class.” I guess someone reported this to head of department. They decided he was not appropriate to teach UG.</p>
<p>My biggest issue with this guy is that he flat told his TA that he did not believe her when she told him she thought it came from behind her (which would have meant it was probably not a student sitting in the auditorium but possibly a student that may have been lingering in the rear). Also he encouraged the class to turn on each other by rating the yawner out. He also blamed the class for his rant, as if the class was the ultimate puppet master. I guess some people in the world say no big deal, but I guess it all boils down to individual tolerance. That type of behavior wouldn’t fly in my house and certainly not in my parents.</p>